Construction And Deconstruction Of Utopia,

Soviet-Russia is a controversial topic of literature from 1920s to 1930s,in which many travel notes about Soviet-Russia have been written. However,very few of people have set foot in the comparative studies of travel notesabout Soviet-Russia written by Qu Qiubai, Walter Benjamin and Andre Gideso far. This thesis intends to use the approach of imagologie in comparativeliterature to explore the subject matter of the construction and deconstructionof Utopia in Soviet-Russia. Meanwhile, it also goes step further to probe intothe modes and the similarities and differences among the travelers in thebackground of modernization, which the travelers from Eastern or Westerncountries build the images of Soviet-Russia in different space-time, and toanalyze the historical and individual motivity and reasons hiding in theirdifferences. Consequently, this thesis tries to investigate the deconstructivereasons of Soviet-Russian Utopia in the conflicts of modernity. This thesisconsists of two chapters:Chapter one expounds the Soviet-Russian images in the travel notes. Itfocuses on presenting the concrete images of Moscow city, Soviet-Russianintellectuals and mass, and analyses their impression of the socialtransformation in Soviet-Russia, showing their similarities and differences aswell.Chapter two discusses the Soviet-Russian images and cultural context inthe background of modernization from the historical perspective, traveler'sindividual angle of view, and the perspective of construction anddeconstruction of Utopia in travel notes, and points out that the constructionof Soviet-Russian Utopia is just a revolutionary romance in the strugglebetween Russian historical traditions and realistic contradictions. Democracy,legal system and freedom that socialism requires always end withdisappointment in Soviet-Russian travel notes, for in that specific historicalperiod, Utopia can be nothing but a dream.